Everything Happens for a Reason Belinda Lewis

everytHiNg HaPPeNs for a reasoN

Belinda Lewis

If Eilerris Moonshadow had ever imagined what a god would look like…. This giant human woman was definitely not it. Eilerris had found no purpose from her family and her fellow elves, nor had she found it in her training as she learned the magic and the ways of the cleric. For years after her training was complete, she had secluded herself from society, alone in her cavern retreat, hidden far in the mountains and sheltered by a roaring waterfall, spending her days in quiet and devoted meditation and only venturing out of her cave to forage for food. She had prayed zealously to Istus of Greyhawk, goddess of fate and destiny, looking for something — anything — to guide her toward her life’s purpose. Eilerris thought she had found her purpose when she came across a motley crew of adventurers who invited her to join them in their quest to defeat the dragon queen Tiamat. They seemed like such an unlikely group of travelers that she swore they were sent by Istus Herself to lead her to her purpose. A silent half-elf druid with deep red hair and green eyes that shimmered with a thousand untold stories. A powerful tiefling wizard whose spiraling horns, dark red skin, solid gold eyes, and towering figure struck fear in the hearts of friends and foe alike. And rounding out their group, a jovial dwarf bard whose tendency to shout either random insults or illtimed puns while playing sea shanties was both endearing and incredibly off-putting, a comically surreal contrast to the serious manner of the rest of the group. But even though Eilerris spent many years in the company of this unusual band of adventurers — who went from strangers to companions to friends… she still couldn’t find any discernible meaning or even reason to her journeys. The fact that events seemed to unfold as if part of a carefully orchestrated plan kept her going, kept her certain that if she just kept going, kept fighting these monsters, kept journeying across the continent, that she’d somehow find the meaning of it all, her purpose. And now, here she was, holding the Crystal Orb of Divine Knowledge and staring up at this colossal and strangely-dressed human, one of many forming a circle around her as if mountains surrounding a deep valley. “Are… are you Istus?” Eilerris asked, her words almost faltering at her

throat.

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The human blinked slowly. “Who, me? No, my name is Courtney.” Turning to one of the other humans in the circle, she added, “Ryan, what’s going on? You didn’t tell me they could come to life!” “Beats me,” the other human replied, lifting his mighty shoulders in a shrug. “This is the first time I’ve seen this happen.” “Couuurt-neeeey,” Eilerris repeated, sounding out the alien name with careful deliberation. “Please, oh Great and Mighty Courtney, are you the deity in charge of this world? Can you answer my questions, and tell me what my purpose in this life is?”

“Deity? Me? I… I’m not really in charge of the campa — errr… world?” Courtney looked briefly over at Ryan; her expression appeared strangely uncertain for a god. “I just play you. You want to talk to Ryan here, he’s our DM… or I uh, I mean… the, um… world-creator…?” “Play… me?” Eilerris considered Courtney’s strange phrase for only a moment before turning to look at Ryan. “O Mighty, All-Powerful, and All-Knowing Ryan, Ultimate Master of this Mortal Realm, please, your humble servant wishes to ask you a few questions so that she may seek to understand the meaning and the purpose of her life.” She knelt down before the giant man. “Uh… okay.” Ryan looked at his companions, then back down at her. “Tell me, uhh… Eilerris… what is your first question?” She paused, momentarily frightened by the reality that she would finally learn her purpose. “O Wise and All-Knowing Ryan, the first question that your humble servant wishes to have answered… is it true that my faithful companions came to me through destiny? I prayed to Istus faithfully to show me my purpose, and they showed up… are they truly a sign from my goddess? Or was it merely coincidence that they showed up and I have been misled?” “Uhh… well…” Ryan shifted, raising one of his massive hands to his neck. “I mean, I guess you could call it destiny? Courtney wanted to join our campaign and she, well, uh… created you, so… we found a way to write you into the campaign. So… I suppose that yes, it’s destiny, at least in a way?” “Courtney… created me?” Eilerris turned to look at Courtney. “Then, I thank you, O Benevolent and Gracious Courtney, for bringing me into this mortal realm.”

“You’re welcome, I guess?” Courtney replied, glancing over at Ryan. “This is soweird,” she told him, her voice quieter as if trying not to be heard. Turning back to Ryan, Eilerris continued. “My next question, O Great and Omnipotent Ryan — ” “You, uh, really don’t have to add all the ‘O Wise and Mighty’ and all,” Ryan interrupted, his cheeks starting to flush as red as the apples Eilerris had seen in the

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last town’s market. “It’s just ‘Ryan’.” “Oh. My apologies then, Ryan. My next question… throughout my journey, my companions and I have fought many creatures who have so determinedly attacked us — creatures which normally are docile and calm — and many times our attacks and spells had… well… no consistency. Sometimes we would miss our blow even when our foe was directly before us, and other times we would strike true even from a far distance away. And our enemies were the same! Surely there is a purpose, right? Everything happens for a reason… right?” Ryan looked around at his companions. “Well… about that…” “Wait, are you really going to tell her?” one of the humans, who had been quietly observing up to that moment, asked incredulously. “I mean… she did grab the Crystal Orb of Divine Knowledge,” Ryan said with another shrug, “I think we kinda owe it to her.” He reached for something out of sight, and then stretched his cupped hand toward Eilerris. She grasped her quarterstaff tightly, bracing for what might happen — He turned his hand over and a strange object, spherical but with many flat facets and made of a waxy blue material that Eilerris had never seen before, tumbled out of his hand and came to a rest in front of her. The round thing stood as high as her waist; as she looked closer, she saw that there were golden numerals carved on each facet. “What… what is this?” she asked, touching the object. It was slightly cool to the touch, and felt perfectly normal; it didn’t seem to be enchanted. “It’s uh… it’s a d20,” Ryan replied. “A… dee-twenty? What does it do?” “It’s part of my dice set. When you or one of your companions — or even your enemies that you’ve been fighting — try to attack, me or one of the other players here rolls this and it determines what happens. The higher the number, the better the result. If it lands on a 20, really amazing things happen; or if it lands on a 1, really bad things happen. I have others that determine how much damage gets dealt when someone lands a hit.” He held out his hand again, dropping several more objects — a cube, a pyramid, other strange shapes that Eilerris couldn’t describe — in front of her; all were made from the same material and had numerals engraved on them, just like the d20 in front of her. Eilerris stared at Ryan in disbelief. “Wait, so… it… it’s random?” “Well… yeah. That’s the fun of it.” “Fun? What about the purpose? The meaning?” She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears as she shook her head violently. “My mentor told me all things happen for a reason. I thought there was a purpose behind when we hit or miss, some deeper lesson we had to learn to achieve perfection. You’re telling me it’s all a lie? There’s no reason?”

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Several of the humans laughed. One of them nudged Courtney with his elbow, jovially remarking, “Sounds like someone’s gonna need a new character.” “Shush, I don’t want to have to level a new character up to level ten again,” Courtney replied in a low hiss. “Guys, this isn’t a joke,” Ryan scolded them. Turning back to Eilerris, he continued, “Look, I know you think it’s meaningless, but there kinda is a reason we use the dice. It balances things out and adds to the fun and the danger when there’s a bit of randomness involved. Otherwise it would be too easy if everyone hits all the time.”

“Too easy?” Eilerris repeated. “You think this entire journey would have been too easy? How many times did we almost die for this — this… this game?” She spat her last word out with considerable venom. “We’re jeopardizing our very lives, and for what? Just to entertain you! What is the meaning in that?” Angrily, she lifted the Crystal Orb of Divine Knowledge above her head. “You aren’t gods, you’re monsters!” she shouted, hurling the orb to the ground. The Orb shattered with a deafening roar, sending shards of crystal scattering through the air. The humans dissolved in a blinding light, and she suddenly found herself back in the temple where they’d found the Orb. Her companions stared at her with eager eyes. “Well?” the tiefling asked. What did you learn? What is your purpose?” Eilerris looked down at the still-glimmering shards of crystal at her feet, her earlier anger dissipating into the air along with the magic that had powered the Orb. “There is none,” she said quietly. “There’s no meaning behind any of this. My mentor, our teachers, they were all wrong; nothing happens for a reason.” She looked up again, noting the varied expressions of the rest of her parties: the shock in the eyes of the tiefling, the confusion in the eyes of the dwarf. The half-elf, though, stared at her with a look of regretful understanding; something in his eyes made Eilerris wonder if the silent druid perhaps had known this all along. “But… what about Tiamat?” the tiefling asked. Eilerris knelt down and picked up one of the shards, looking at her reflection in it. “Tiamat will still destroy our world if we don’t stop her,” she said. “But there’s no purpose behind it. Our journey is just a game to the gods that run this world.” “Then what do we do now?” the dwarf asked. “Do we continue, or…?” “May as well,” Eilerris said, putting the shard into her pocket. “Even if there’s no reason behind it beyond the fickle enjoyment of this world’s gods… what else do we have to do with our lives but play along?”

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uNtitled

Bejamin Airing

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